


Geoff Practices Dying

by Wrespawn



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Anxiety, Blood, F/M, Fake AH Crew, Fluff, Gun Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Immortal Fake AH Crew, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 04:53:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19660228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wrespawn/pseuds/Wrespawn
Summary: Before the crew invented the game of Murder, the only time they would ever die would be on heists.  They had nothing to help them cope with the horror of that.One night, Jack and Geoff can't sleep, and they decide to try something.Warnings: Gun violence, consensual temporary murder, discussions of anxiety and fear, strong sexual tones.





	Geoff Practices Dying

Night had fallen over Los Santos, and the penthouse of the Fake AH Crew was unusually silent.

By all metrics, the night was young. A dim glow of dusk still clung to the horizon, just visible beyond the light pollution. The city streets were a constellation of red and yellow headlights, metal and noise pouring between buildings like water over an asphalt riverbed.

Inside, headquarters was dead silent.

Jack stood in the meeting room, alone, staring at a pin-studded map of Los Santos. The windowless room felt very very still, the only sound the hum of the fluorescent lights. Normally at this time of night Jack would be exploring a new bar, or taking one of her many vehicles for a joyride, or simply flopping on the couch with her crew as they passed around a whiskey bottle. 

No one was up to sip whiskey with her right now. Everyone had gone to bed early. They all wanted to be well rested for the heist tomorrow.

The target was circled on the map in red. The places where each crew member would start were labeled as well, with red arrows cutting over the city to show their routes. In a few places someone had scribbled an ominous question mark. Jack let her gaze wander over the map, mentally running over the heist in her head, even though she’d run it through a hundred times already. At last, with a tense breath, she turned away from the map and flicked the lights off on her way out.

Everyone had agreed to go to bed early, but she doubted any of them were getting more sleep than she was right now.

The penthouse felt wrong like this, all quiet despite the city humming outside. It wasn’t a long walk to Geoff’s room, but it seemed to take an hour. A dark hour, at that, as of the time between four and five in the morning when the party is dead and the sobriety has set in and there is nothing but sticky solo cups to fill the strange void between today and tomorrow.

Geoff’s door was open.

Jack knocked on the doorframe all the same before leaning her head in. Geoff sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his own tattooed hands, not so much as looking up at her. He hadn’t even taken his clothes off.

“...Geoff?” Jack ventured. “Honey? You all right?”

Geoff finally blinked and lifted his gaze. He cleared his throat awkwardly and made a show of shuffling as though, any minute now, he was about to start the process of thinking about getting ready for bed.

“Yeah! Yeah. Just… having a hard time falling asleep.”

“That tends to happen when you’re sitting up.”

The smile she earned was fragile. “Smartass.”

Jack drummed her fingers against the doorframe. “...Worried about the heist?”

“I’m obvious, huh?”

Jack took a breath. “…Yep,” she said at last. “Really obvious.” She stepped into the room gingerly. “Do you… wanna talk?”

Geoff let out a long, miserable whine and rubbed his hands over his face. “It’s stupid,” he mumbled into his hands. He laughed weakly. “I’m… I’m scared to die.”

Jack sat on the bed next to him. “Geoff, that’s not stupid.”

“It’s _so_ stupid, I know I’m gonna come right back.” Geoff wouldn’t lift his face out of his hands. “I know that even if everything goes wrong, I’ll be okay. But I’m so fucking terrified of that moment where everything goes dark.”

Jack rested her hand on his thigh, squeezing gently. For a moment, she didn’t speak. At last she took a deep breath.

“Do you want to... practice... tonight? So it doesn’t seem so scary?”

Geoff finally lifted his face out of his hands and gave Jack a weary smile. “Practice the heist? What, have you got a bank with training wheels I can rob?”

“No, I mean…” Jack squeezed his thigh again, not meeting his eyes. “Practice dying.”

Geoff’s smile faded. “Oh. You mean…”

“I-I mean maybe that moment of darkness wouldn’t be so scary,” Jack rambled, “if someone you trusted was there the whole time.”

Geoff didn’t respond. Jack chewed her lip and cleared her throat.

“I-if this is too weird--”

“Okay. Let’s try it.”

The gentle press of Geoff’s hand on her cheek turned Jack’s face towards him. She met his eyes in awe, not quite believing what she had just heard.

“I trust you. I… I’ll let you do it.” He swallowed. “I’ll let you kill me.”

Jack could feel her heart skip, thumping hard in her chest. 

Geoff’s hand cupped her face more insistently, protectively, as though she was the one who might be about to die. “Jack, are you really okay doing this? I mean, you’re gonna have to...”

Jack nodded, maybe too quickly, too eagerly. Geoff laughed, and for the first time, his smile looked genuine.

“...Oh, Jack. You’re  _ into  _ it.”

“W-well-- okay, you got me.”

“You just love any excuse to get your hands on me, huh?”

She reached up, covering his hand with her own. “Of course I do.”

“Mmm. I’m less scared already.”

“Oh?” Jack placed her hands on his chest, leaning close to his face as though for a kiss. “Good. Lie down, baby.”

The smile snapped off of Geoff’s face. “W-wait, here?”

“I want you comfortable.”

“I-I’m gonna get blood all over the bed,” Geoff rambled, a weak protest as he allowed Jack to push him down onto his back. “Gonna  _ ruin  _ the mattress.”

Jack straddled him. “Geoff, you’re filthy rich, you can buy a new one.”

“F-fuck, Jack…” Geoff’s breath hitched as she shifted. “C-can you— can you  _ not  _ be so hot when you’re about to kill me?”

“Aww.” Jack reached for the night stand and picked up a pistol, giving Geoff the most winning smile she could manage. “I think this is a  _ great  _ time to be hot. It’s a pleasant distraction!”

Geoff looked at the gun, then shook his head. “Not that. It’s too quick.”

“No?” Jack put the gun back where she had found it, and picked up a knife instead, holding it up for Geoff’s inspection. It flashed in the light of the bedside table. “How about this?”

The fear was evident on Geoff’s face. He swallowed hard. “Y-yes. Fuck...”

“I’ll make it quick,” Jack promised. Geoff winced as she lowered the knife. “I’ll wait until you’re ready. If you need me to stop… just say so.”

The edge touched his neck, sharp steel against soft skin, tracing delicately as Geoff’s breath heaved…

“I-I was wrong!” Geoff blurted. “I was wrong, gimme the gun!”

Jack stifled a giggle as she moved the knife away. She leaned down to kiss Geoff’s forehead. “Okay, honey, no knife.”

Geoff tried to smile. He was too handsome, sprawled and submissive under her. “Th-this is hard,” he admitted.

Jack wiggled her hips playfully. “Want me to make it harder?”

“Mmmh, you already are.”

“I can see that.” She let out a breath as she moved her hips again. “...I can  _ feel  _ it too.”

Geoff’s hand slid slowly up her thigh, tattooed fingers tracing over bare skin. “...Hey, you said something about a… pleasant distraction?”

“Yeah?”

Geoff’s breath was growing heavy as he stared up at her. “Distract me.”

Jack leaned over him and pressed a deep, slow kiss to his lips. Geoff shuddered, his hands sliding up from her thighs to her hips, pulling her closer. Jack’s hand splayed over his chest as they kissed, her other hand holding the gun by her side, not lifting it yet.

Jack pulled back to murmur against his lips. “Your heart is racing.” She slid her hand over his chest. “I can feel it.”

Geoff shuddered again. “Y-you’re gonna kill me. Of course my heart is racing.”

“Are you ready?” 

Geoff’s breath quickened as Jack lifted the gun. His gaze jumped between the barrel and her face. “A-are you gonna be okay?” His hands tightened on her hips. “I-I mean, I’m just gonna black out and wake up in the respawn room, but you’re gonna have to be here with my —“

“I’ll be okay. Let’s worry about you.”

“Shit, the gun’s gonna be loud. If someone hears the gunshot go off, what are they gonna--”

“Honey.” Jack waved the gun with a sheepish smile. “You’re stalling.”

Geoff whined. “...It’s gonna ruin the mattress,” he protested feebly.

“Geoff, if you don’t want to do this…”

“No.” Geoff took a long, deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before looking up at her. “No, I-I want to do this. I want it to be  _ you _ .”

The way he said it, the way he was looking at her, made her heart skip. 

“G-Geoff…” She swallowed. “D-don’t fluster me, you’ll throw off my aim.”

“Aim?” Geoff’s fear was mostly hidden behind his cocky smile. “Jesus, Jack, could you  _ miss  _ me from here?”

Jack smiled and cupped his face lovingly, rubbing her thumb over the coarseness of his beard. “Shut up or I’ll shoot you.”

“Yeah? Shoot me.” Geoff was smiling, but she could hear the quickness of his breath. “Y-you’ve got the gun. Shoot me.”

Jack’s hand pressed against his face more earnestly. Her heart pounded as she lifted the gun. His body was warm and solid under her, still thumping with life, soon to be snuffed out.

“Are… are you ready?”

Geoff’s smile was beginning to waver as his gaze jumped between her face and the barrel. “Y-yeah. I’m ready.”

“O-okay…” Jack’s breath was heavy as she pressed the barrel of the gun against Geoff’s head. “Deep breath, honey.” 

The gun jumped in her hand with a harsh  _ BANG. _

_ Thump. Thump. Thump.  _ A human heartbeat shouldn’t be this loud. The gun trembled in Jack’s hand as she slowly lifted it away. She could feel the deep steady pulse of her own heartbeat down in her fingertips, pounding in her lungs.

It was the only heartbeat left in the room.

The mattress… the mattress was… definitely ruined.

The gun clattered on the floor as Jack bolted from the room.

The penthouse blurred past. Jack’s footsteps were as heavy as her breath. Her vision reeled as though wracked by a combination of vodka and tears, but her legs knew the way.

Down, down, down. Down to the locked door with no handle and no keypad. 

She nearly ran into it, unwilling to slow down as it beeped and opened. She slipped through the crack as soon as it was wide enough, and smooth calm white enveloped her. Chest heaving and heart still hammering, Jack finally let herself come to a stop.

A pod was already open. 

She raced over to it. Inside, reposed on the sleek white cushioning, lay Geoff. His eyes were still closed, and breath shifted gently in his chest. Jack leaned in, pressing her hand to his face, letting out a long, long breath. She could feel his pulse thumping under her fingers.

Geoff stirred, blinked, then gave her a sleepy smile.

“Morning, babe.”

Jack’s hand was trembling, wracked by the euphoria of touching him. She choked out a laugh. “I-it’s still night, Geoff.”

“Mmm? Good.” Geoff yawned, lazily fumbling until he found her hand, tangling their fingers. “I’m  _ damn  _ tired.”

A new voice cut the calm hum of the respawn room.

“Does someone wanna tell me why the  _ fuck  _ there’s a dead Geoff upstairs?”

Jack straightened up, and beside her, Geoff sat up in his pod. Michael stood by the still-closing door, wearing nothing but boxers, bedhead, and a scowl.

“His mattress is fucked, by the way,” Michael added.

Geoff sighed in a way that said  _ I told you so  _ with a mere exhale. The actual words he said were, “That was my fault. I asked Jack to do it.”

“You asked Jack to blow your brains out?” Michael seemed to think over his word choice for a moment. “...With a gun?”

With another sigh, Geoff climbed out of his pod. “Yeah.” He didn’t offer a further explanation.

Michael gave Geoff a long look. His gaze flicked briefly to Jack, then flicked back again. When he spoke, his voice had softened. “...So long as you’re both okay. You’re both okay, right?”

Jack nodded.

“Michael…” Geoff leaned on his pod, staring at the far wall as though he could see the city beyond it. “Are you afraid of dying?”

This seemed to signal something to Michael. He leaned against the wall as though settling in for a long conversation. “That a joke? We don’t die.”

“Yeah we do.” Thoughtfully, Geoff rubbed the respawn pod. “We just come back after.”

The smile faded from Michael’s face. “...You mean, am I scared of how much it’s gonna hurt, when some cop gets a clean shot on me or I don’t toss a grenade far enough? Scared that it won’t be quick, that I’ll die slowly and not be able to stop it? Scared that it  _ will  _ be quick, that I’ll never see it coming, never have a chance? Scared that I’ll let the team down, that my death will mean one of my friends dies too? Or are you asking if I’m scared that my mind will blink out like a light and I won’t be able to come back this time? Because yes, Geoff, I’m scared of all of it. I’m scared every fucking second of every heist. I’m scared right now.” He took a long, long breath. “S-so, just... fucking warn me if you and Jack are gonna play with guns, okay? I’d just gotten to sleep. Gonna be a bitch to fall asleep again now.”

Silence claimed the room in the wake of Michael’s words. The room hummed, softly, as though trying to soothe the three people nestled within it.

“...How do you deal with it?” Jack murmured.

Some of Michael’s familiar scorn was creeping back into his voice. “I masturbate until raw exhaustion makes me pass out, Jack. Like a fucking adult.”

That earned a laugh from Geoff. The mirth was contagious, and Jack found her shoulders relaxing as Michael started to smile back.

“God…” Geoff shook his head. “We need therapy.”

“Did it work?” Michael asked, a tremor of hope in his voice. “Having Jack shoot you?”

Geoff lifted his gaze to her. For a long moment, he just stared into her eyes. “...Yeah. I think it did.”

“Well shit. Maybe we just need more of that.” Michael yawned. “Anyway, that’s enough cosmic dread for one night. I’m going to bed.”

“See you in the morning, Michael.”

“G’night, man.”

Michael gave them a sleepy wave and slipped out the sliding door. Jack turned her attention back to Geoff.

“So… you ready to go to bed?”

“Heh, can’t.” He flicked her nose. “My mattress is fucked.”

Jack smiled. “Well,  _ my  _ mattress isn’t.”

“Mmm?”

“...Not  _ yet  _ anyway.”

“Wanna fix that?”

“Yeah.” She took his hand, tugging him towards the door. “I think Michael might be on to something.”


End file.
